recently in Radelaide

here are a few of the things happening recently in Radelaide

i got to check out the bee hive at our studio with bob

 

they are a happy, passive hive, busily filling their home with honey

we may not get any honey this year, but it a long term project so that is ok.

 

there have been plenty of baby ducks and swans along the river - watch out for their territorial behaviour when riding your bike past

 

otto and i had a trip to the beach the other day for a walk 

it was perfect weather for a stroll on the beach and a quick dip in the water

 

here is otto before he ran through the puddles

 

there was a panda cake made to celebrate a friends birthday

this was enjoyed over lunch last weekend

 

and until today the weather here has been perfect not too hot not too cold - and today is perfect inside computer activity weather - 39 degrees and only to get hotter tomorrow!

seating and play space complete

back in february deb and i installed the large timber units into a green space near the ocean. we created some seating and a play space using reclaimed timber.

over the easter weekend i finally had a chance to revisit the site now that the plants and landscaping had been competed. 

 

borris and otto came along and tried out one of our seats.

 

for the most part i think it looks pretty good

 

its the kind of landscaping that will definitely get much better as the tiny plants begin to grow and fill out the space.

 

it was a fun project to work on

hopefully people in the area will enjoy the space

easter walk

it has been busy here, with lots of work on lately, but over the easter break we did get a chance to get to the beach and go for a walk.

it was overcast but a lovely day.

 

otto had a great time with the frisbee.

 

borris and i on the beach

 

otto a bit pooped from all the running around.

 

the sky was beautiful

 

the ocean a lovely green blue

 

a lovely afternoon!

large timber public artwork

i wrote before about some large timber deb and i have been working on. the week before the conference we had them moved from our workshop to the installation site. 

it was a bit unnerving watching the crane lift the large timbers up over the cab of the crane

 

but it all went well and we had it all loaded in a couple hours.

a couple days after the conference we met on site to begin installation.

 

the site is on the coast in north glenelg, not a bad place to work.

 

we had the area we were installing the timbers dug up so they could be set into the ground.

at the same time as we installed the large timbers, the footings for the bench seats were getting started

and then poured.  the benches to be installed later in the week.

the digger then helped lift and move each large timber piece into place.

 

we had a rough plan for the layout and worked well with the install guys making making it happen.

 

here you can see deb watching the digger get ready for the next set up.

 

  

lifting another large chuck of tree

setting it down in position

and checking for level

 

and along we went again and again until all the timbers were in place.

 

deb in the background of the final layout, a timber stepping stone interactive space.

 

one of the workers testing out the long tree feature.

once we were happy with the layout, we had the units concreted into place.

 

once the concrete sets it will be covered with dirt and then set into the new landscaping with mulch and native planting all around it.

the council's plan was to have the rest of the area landscaped and planted out by the end of the week, so i will head back to site this week and check out the finished result and report back here soon.

last job for the year

before we ended the year deb and i had one last job to complete. the large timbers we have been collecting that will eventually be part of a new park and play area near the beach. 

for this project we got to hire and use a chainsaw to carve in features into some of the logs

all in a days work at the studio.

the side lane of our studio looks like a timber yard, with the large bits of tree set up. we also decided to make a small structure with scaffolding and tarps, so we have a less windy/sunny area for painting.

 

some of the timber is old jarrah so we have to use respirators when we are sanding the timber back.

the last thing we needed to complete before the holidays was adding a few spots of paint to the play area timber and to cover the tops of the benches with the high gloss paint.

 

we have highlighted the chainsaw cut areas with some of the high gloss paint to make the forms more interesting and playful.

under the tarp everything seems blue, but actually we are painting the top of the benches 2 different colours of blue. they are going to be great next sitting next to the beach.

all the paint will have about a month to fully cure and be ready for installation at the end of january. a nice project to end the year with, simple, hands on and for a client that is really easy to work with.